Times Are Changing
by Yet-Another-Weasley
Summary: Post Order of the Pheonix. The trio deals with the afterevents of what happened at the Department of Mysteries while trying to figure out what's going on and what's going to happen as the Wizarding War begins. I need title ideas.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Summer

**Summary:** Takes place after The Order of the Phoenix. Harry, Ron, and Hermione spend the summer at the Burrow.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or its characters. I write simply for my own and others' enjoyment.

**Author's Note:** I've written a few Harry Potter fanfics before, but most never got finished or were one shot, fluff fics. After taking a break and writing quite a few CSI fics, I'm back to Harry Potter with a new approach. There will probably be some ship-ness in this fic (Ron/Hermione, Ginny liking Harry, but I don't know about Harry liking Ginny). I don't think I'll actually have any of the characters going out, just minor stuff.

**Chapter 1 – Back with the Dursleys**

_Dear Lupin,_

_I think your talk with my Aunt and Uncle helped. They are acting less rude and can actually stand me being in the same room with them without having a fit or glaring at me. Most of the time, though, I stay in my room and have been reading my school books. I was over Ms. Figg's the other day; its not as bad going over her house for tea now that I know she's not just some crazy old Muggle. Well, I hope everyone is doing well. I can't wait to see you again, which I hope will be soon!_

_Best regards,_

_Harry_

"Here Hedwig, take this to Lupin," Harry said, attaching the parchment to her leg and giving her a treat. She cooed softly and then took off.

He watched Hedwig fly off into the distance and then flopped onto his bed. It was a week and four days since he had been at Hogwarts last, but this summer was much better than the last. His Aunt and Uncle stopped being so rude. They didn't yell at him for every little thing that happened. The last time they had yelled at him this summer was when Uncle Vernon came into his room and was accidentally bitten by "The Monster Book of Monsters" that Harry's belt must have slipped off of. Other than that, they really hadn't spoken to him much. Aunt Petunia acknowledged him when he came downstairs for breakfast and bid him 'goodnight' when he would head upstairs in the evening. Harry would do his chores and then take a walk or reread his books for school. After taking his O.W.L.s, Harry realized that he should probably actually do his work so he wouldn't have to copy off of Hermione. Besides that, it kept his mind off of everything else, like Sirius and everything that had happened when they were at the Department of Mysteries.

Now, he store up at the ceiling and just relaxed. Before he wrote the letter to Lupin, he had been out mowing the lawn. It felt good to finally be inside in the cool air-conditioning of his room. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

A few hours later, he woke up to someone pounding on his bedroom door. "Open up!" yelled Harry's Uncle Vernon, "Open your door, there's someone on the telephone for you!"

Harry rubbed his eyes and yawned as he sat up and straighten his now wrinkled shirt. _Wait, did he just say someone is on the phone for me?_ Harry thought, _why would anyone I know 'call'?_

"Coming," Harry said and he unlocked the door.

"Make it quick, boy; dinner is in five minutes." Uncle Vernon handed him the telephone and left back down the stairs.

"Hello?" Harry asked, putting the phone up to his ear.

"Harry?" the familiar voice sounded far away.

"No Ron, you've got it upside down. There, now talk." Hermione said, speaking to Ron.

"Harry? You there?" Ron asked, now holding the phone correctly.

"Ron! What's going on? Where are you?" Harry asked excitedly.

"I'm over Hermione's. We stopped to pick her up; she's spending the rest of the summer with us."

"Sounds like fun." Harry replied and wondered if they'd be picking him up as well.

Now Hermione spoke, "Mrs. Weasley said to tell you that we'd be picking you up in a few days. I would have sent you a letter by owl, but Ron's dad wanted to see how a telephone works again. You should have seen him when my mum called my aunt a little while ago. He was fascinated."

Harry chuckled at the thought. He heard someone yelling from down the stairs, "Oh, erm, Hermione. I've got to go; if I don't get downstairs in about two seconds Dudley will probably be sent to beat me up for being late to dinner. I'll see you soon."

"Okay, see you Harry."

Before he clicked the phone off, he heard Ron say, "See you soon, Harry!"

He heard Uncle Vernon call his name for the fifth time and make a threat, so he hurried down the stairs and took the last seat remaining at the table.

"Who was on the phone?" Uncle Vernon interrogated.

"Er, Hermione Granger, from school. She said that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would be here to pick me up in a few days, I mean… if I am allowed." He said that quietly, not knowing what reaction he was going to receive.

Uncle Vernon paused for a moment, but then said, "Well they'd better not come through the fireplace or be in some flying car again… nearly destroyed the whole house…" Harry heard his uncle mumbled something else, but he couldn't quite understand it.

Most of the meal was eaten in silence; apparently, none of the Dursleys had anything to talk about, other than Dudley asking if he could spend the night at the Polkisses'. He told them his friend's parents asked for him to stay the other day while he was over there having tea. Of course, Harry knew all of this to be one big, fat lie. Sure, Dudley may have actually gone over his friend's house for tea _once_, but he doubted he was going there to spend the night. He pictured Dudley and his gang wandering the streets at night, vandalizing the park down the block or knocking over garbage cans into the street. Still, Harry didn't mind not having Dudley around; even if it meant he would be locked up in his room or sent off to Mrs. Figg's.

Harry also didn't mind being on Aunt Petunia's diet anymore. He made sure that before he got off the Hogwarts' Express, he loaded his trunks, pockets, and any other open space full of sweets and treats. And now, after five years at Hogwarts, he had quite a large collection of chocolate frog wizard's cards and it was still growing. Harry sat through dinner and gnawed on some carrots and celery; it made him feel rather like a rabbit. The only think he drank was a cool glass of milk, but he had some sugar-free juice upstairs that Hermione had sent him. It was hidden in his bottom drawer, underneath his schoolbooks which he knew none of the Dursleys would dare to touch. Finally, after an hour of sitting at the table and then a half and hour of cleaning the dishes, he was allowed to excuse himself and got back up to his bedroom.

Now he was free to wonder where the Weasleys would be taking him once they picked him up. If he was going to spend the rest of the summer at the Burrow he wouldn't mind, but he didn't really fancy staying at Grimmauld Place. Everything there would just remind him of his late Godfather. Harry remembered Christmas last year; Sirius was walking about, humming 'God rest ye merry Hippogriffs…' and helping them clean and decorate the dark and dreary house. No, Harry knew he would never be able to bear going there again, not now. And if he ever saw Kreacher again, no matter what Hermione said or did, he would kill the house elf right then and there.

For some hours, Harry let him mind go over past memories and he wondered what things would be like now if he hadn't made the mistakes he had during the last school year. He eventually came to think of his O.W.L.s and he became a bit worried about it, even though he really hadn't been before. Eventually, his mind started to get sore and he could no longer keep his eyes open. He let them close and then finally he drifted off to sleep.

… "Wake up!" his aunt called from down the hallway; she was banging on the wall as well. "You had better get up before I come in there!"

Harry lifted his head up and rubbed his eyes, but apparently, he didn't get up quick enough. In a few seconds, his cousin Dudley was in there and approaching the bed swiftly.

"Mum says you had better get up and outside…now!"

"Well why are you standing there, then? Did she send you in here to make me get up… that's a joke, isn't it?" Harry said, pulling the covers off of him and putting his glasses on.

"Don't you make fun of me!" Dudley said as a lame come-back.

Harry just rolled his eyes.

"What was that look for?" Dudley asked, "You think your some big shot now that those freaks you know scared mum and dad; I know what's going on!"

"Do you really?" Harry replied, "I'm sure you know all about me and my _freaky_ friends, or maybe you want to know them? I can introduce you to them if you'd like… they are coming to pick me up in a few days."

Dudley looked scared. He must have been remembering the last time the Weasleys had come to pick Harry up. Not only had Ron's family destroyed the Dursleys' living room, but Fred and George had also caused Dudley's tongue to grow five feet in a mere five seconds. Dudley just scowled and left the room.

"You'd better get downstairs, you freak!" he called from out in the upstairs hall. Harry heard his humongous feet plod down the stairs and figured it was alright to come out and finally head down there himself.

He sat down at the table and looked at his plate. All that was on it was one sausage, some orange pieces, and a slice of un-buttered Rye toast. He shrugged and then ate the food on his plate in less than two minutes. Noticing that the others had also eaten their meal just as quick, he drank him tiny glass of milk and then took his plate over to the sink and cleaned it up.

"Dudders, are you going out with your buddies today?" Harry's Aunt Petunia asked Dudley.

"Devon invited me over; we're going to help his new neighbors move some boxes." Dudley said sweetly.

"Oh, that's so generous of you and your friends. Do you know if they have any children, maybe you could introduce yourselves."

Harry though, _I feel sorry for any kid who runs into Ickle Duddlekins and his gang of lunch money stealing bullies._

Harry got a washcloth and started wiping off the counters. He was nearly done when turned around and heard a smash from behind him. When he had turned around, his elbow had accidentally knocked an empty mug off the countertop.

"What the hell is going on?" Uncle Vernon whipped his head around and Harry was already down on the floor, picking up the broken pieces. "You boy! That mug had sentimental value; _that_ was Aunt Marge's favorite mug…"

"Sorry Uncle Vernon," Harry said quickly, "It was an accident; I'll make sure it gets cleaned up."

"Yeah, I bet it was just an accident. Just for that, you can head outside and water the plants. Once you're done that, you can sweep the walkway and clean off the chairs out there. I don't want to see you back in this house until it's time for dinner."

Harry sighed and finished cleaning up the broken mug; he hoped he'd gotten all the pieces up off the floor. Then, he headed outside and took his time in doing his chores. Occasionally, he would peer over the fence and see if there was anything going on over the neighbor's houses or if anyone interesting drove by, but of course, nothing interesting ever went on in Privet Drive. Last year when the Dementors attacked was the only interesting event that had ever taken place here since Harry had to come live here anyway. He cleaned the furniture and his chores were done, so he slumped down into one of the white chairs and rested underneath the shade of the dark blue umbrella.

xxxxxxxxx

Two days later, Harry had nothing to do. It was one o'clock in the afternoon and he sat him his room, bored out of his mind. Unlike the past few days, the weather was cool and he let his window open so the soft breeze could come through. It was silent; Dudley was out again over one of his friends' houses and his Aunt and Uncle were outside; Uncle Vernon was reading some magazine and Aunt Petunia was planting flowers in her garden. However, this relaxing silence was interrupted when Harry heard the roaring of a car engine coming down the road. It didn't seem familiar; Harry could tell when the neighbors came home or left and was used to just ignoring it. Now though, he jumped up and peered out his window.

"Ron!" he yelled, not caring that his Uncle probably heard him.

Harry put on his shoes and raced down the stairs to open the door. Not surprised, he noticed that his aunt and uncle had heard him and were now at the door. They opened it and the Weasleys and Hermione came into the parlor.

"Hello, we're here to pick up Harry," Mr. Weasley said.

"Yes, yes, we know…"

"I'll go get my things," Harry said excitedly and he ran back up the stairs.

As quickly as possible, he threw his clothes and books into the suitcase. Luckily, he noticed that Hedwig was finally back. He let her into the case and then grabbed his wand and hurried back down the stairs.

"Good, we'll be leaving now. Traveling by car means it will take longer to get back, so it's best we be on our way as quickly as possible," Mr. Weasley said.

Harry turned around, "See you next summer, then." He told his aunt and uncle.

They said nothing in return and this time, Mr. Weasley didn't even try to get them to say good-bye to Harry. All he said was 'good-day' and then everyone left the Dursleys' house.

Harry was glad to finally be rid of the Dursleys for the rest of the summer.

xxxxxxxxx

**Author's Note:** End of Chapter 1. I don't really have the plot developed yet… so I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I hope you continue to read and like it. I'll think of something interesting… There will be some stuff on Percy… Fred and George… the Order and the Wizard War and Azkaban (the Death Eaters and stuff about Dementors).

I hope you liked this chapter, even though nothing really exciting happened yet. Please review and tell me what you think of it. D


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or its characters.

**Author's Note:** Thanks for reading and reviewing. I'll try to update at least once a week… school gets out on Monday and after that I should be able to write more often, but sometimes I get writer's block, so that's another reason why I might not update every day, too. Anyway, on with Chapter 2. )

**Chapter 2 – At the Burrow**

"Alright, back in the car you lot," Mr. Weasley said, "Harry, come and put your things in the trunk."

Harry lugged his trunk around the back of the car, "Mr. Weasley, did you rent this from the ministry?"

"Yes, it's small, but it was the only one they could afford to lend out at the moment. At least we didn't have to bring Fred and George; I'm sure it is probably a lot comfortable with just the four of you sitting in the back."

"Yeah," replied Harry and Mr. Weasley opened the trunk for him to put his things in.

Mr. Weasley climbed into the front passenger's seat and Harry sat in the back with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. In a few minutes, they were on their way and Harry was glad to be leaving the Dursleys behind again, well, at least until the following summer.

"So, what's up?" Harry asked as he put on his seatbelt.

Ron yawned, "Nothing too interesting I guess, not that happened today anyway. Last night, _she_ had me up all night practicing charms and spells." He pointed to Hermione. "I don't know why though, it is summer and our O.W.L.s are over."

"Well, we don't get our results back for another few days, a week at the most. I can't help feeling a bit apprehensive."

"Well there's no need to be worried; there's no question that you aced all of your exams… I, on the other hand…"

Hermione blushed.

Ron continued, "Am the one who should be worried. At least I'm pretty sure I won't be taking Divination anymore."

Harry laughed; he was glad to be back with his friends.

The car ride was long, but also fun and interesting. Harry told Ron, Ginny, and Hermione how nice the Dursleys had been to him since break had begun.

"That little talk Mad-Eye and the others had with him worked wonders; Dudley is even more afraid of me now. You've seen his face when your and your parents are around, but did you see the look on his face when Lupin and Mad-Eye came over? He was mortified!"

They all laughed.

Of course, Harry's story about the Dursleys received one of Mr. Weasley's, "That's exactly why Muggles and Wizards have such bad relations. If they could only get along…"

Then Hermione said something agreeing with Mr. Weasley and then she decided to bring up house-elves and SPEW again. Nobody really felt like saying anything against her, so an awkward silence fell over the car. Eventually, Ron got bored.

"Oi, Harry, did I tell you that I got a new chocolate frog card?" Ron asked. "It's pretty rare…ugh, but I got four Lockhart's. If we ever see him again, I'll give them all to him; I'm sure he'd be extremely happy, probably have the nurse tac them up on the walls."

They went on about chocolate frog wizard's cards and other odd things for a while and before they knew it, they were arriving at the Burrow. Hermione and Harry took their stuff upstairs; Hermione put her things in Ginny's room and Harry put his things in Ron's room.

Mrs. Weasley then told them as Hermione and Harry returned downstairs, "Your father and I have somewhere to be, some things to do for the Order. I was trying to get Bill to come up and watch you while we were gone, but he's busy; I'm definitely not having Fred and George watch you, don't know if there will be a house left if I leave you alone with them two. Anyway, we shouldn't be gone more than a few hours. Ron, I'm trusting you to make sure the house is still here when we get back. Do not leave the house for any reason; I'll be checking up on occasionally." she pointed to the fire.

Ron looked stunned; for once in his life, he felt slightly important, "Err, thanks Mum."

"We'll see you sometime later then. If we end up staying later than we expected, just throw something small together for dinner and don't stay up late."

Ron and the others nodded. Mrs. Weasley hugged each of them and then she and her husband grabbed a small handful of floo-powder and were gone.

"So, where's Pig… I need to send a letter," Ginny said to Ron.

He rolled his eyes; he was about to ask who she was sending a letter to, but decided not to, "Upstairs, my bedroom I think."

He walked off and sat in on of the chairs; Harry and Hermione followed suit.

"So, Harry, your summer's been good then?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I think this has been my best summer yet," Harry smiled, "How about you?"

"Well, not much happened. I almost went on vacation to Bulgaria; Vicktor invited me. He even offered to teach me how to play Quidditch and I really wanted to meet his family. Did you know that he has a sister? She's our age and apparently Vicktor told her all about me and he told his parents, too."

Ron was going to say something, but he found himself drifting off to sleep…

His head was rested comfortably on the arm of the oversized chair and the war fire kept him from opening up his eyes. The last thing he heard was Hermione asking something about that night in the Department of Mysteries. He then had a very odd dream.

The whole thing was really creepy; it started out normal. He was playing Quidditch, very badly mind, and the whole school was watching. And then odd things started happening… he was being attacked, but nobody could see what was happening to him. There was a large creature, covered in thick fluffy hair. It looked harmless from the far distance it was at, even funny in a way, but as it moved closer he realized something was wrong. It came upon him and he couldn't breathe; he was suffocating. The fur was covering his face, closing his lungs… the creature wasn't even touching him, but it was suffocating him with its strange powers. He tried to breathe, but air did not come into his lungs. The strange creature was laughing at him.

"Don't you think so Ron?" Hermione said, continuing to talk to Harry about O.W.L.s.

She looked over to see that his head was resting up against the side of the chair and he did not respond.

"Hey, Ron, you asleep, mate?" Harry asked

Harry leaned over and tapped Ron on the shoulder, causing him to open his eyes and take in a big gulp of air.

"Uh, Ron, are you alright?" Hermione asked.

Ron nodded and then blinked a few times, trying to get the tiredness out of his system. He breathed in the air which was around him, glad to be out of the dream.

"Are you sure, your face went all white…" Hermione said.

Ron nodded, "I'm fine, it was just a really strange dream."

He had never had a dream like that before, not before the night at the Department of Mysteries, the night he'd been hit by that curse. Ron remembered that night, when he and the others were taken back to Hogwarts and Ron was in the hospital wing, along with Ginny and Hermione. He was giggling like mad, but he couldn't help himself; someone hit him with a spell, he wasn't sure what though. When he was down there in the Department of Mysteries, it felt as though he were watching himself from outside of his body, watching himself giggling like a lunatic and then he saw the brain come out of the tank. It was strange, but he didn't mention it to anyone. When he got a very strange dream, like the one he had just had, that night when they got back to the school… he figured it was because of the spell. Hopefully, it would wear off.

"I think I'm going to go lie down, what time is it?" Ron said.

Hermione checked her watch, "It's seven o' clock. You should really go get a cup of tea and relax; you're as white as a ghost."

Ron just stood up and walked out of the room, "Yeah…"

He walked into the kitchen and filled the tea kettle with water. At the sink, he looked into the window and saw his reflection in the glass. Hermione had been right, he looked terrible. After placing the kettle on the stove top, he sat down at the table and put his head down on the table. He'd just been asleep for a couple of hours; he should have felt refreshed and full of energy, but instead, it was if the energy had been drained from him.

The tea kettle whistled and he woke up; he hadn't even been aware that he had fallen asleep. It seemed like only a few moments ago he was sitting there, thinking about the Department of Mysteries and then he couldn't remember anything else after that.

_Odd_, he thought.

He got up and poured the steaming water into the cup and then headed out into the living room to see if Harry and Hermione wanted any tea as well.

"Harry, Hermione," he said, "Would either of you like a cup of tea?"

Hermione stood up and Harry also followed suit.

"Sure, thanks," Hermione said.

"There's water in the kettle. I think I'm going to go check up on Ginny," he said.

Ron knocked twice on Ginny's door and then he heard her say, "Come in."

He opened up the door and walked in.

"Oh, hello Ron; what are you doing up here? I thought you were downstairs talking to Harry and Hermione." She said, "You look really sick. Are you alright?"

"I don't know; I feel terrible though."

"Don't you think maybe you should tell Mum?" Ginny asked; feeling quite concerned. "She'd probably know what'd wrong."

"They're at a meeting, though. I don't know if they'd be happy if I barged in."

"Fine, I'll do it then; you never get sick and look this bad. I'll use floo-powder; it will be fine."

Ron didn't feel like arguing, so he gave in and the both of them went downstairs.

"Hey Gin, do you want some tea?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Sure."

Hermione came out into the living room, "Ron, your tea is going to get cold if you don't hurry up." She then noticed Ginny going to the fire, "Hey Ginny, what are you doing?"

"I need to ask Mum something; I'll be right in though."

Ron went back into the kitchen and sat down, putting sugar and cream into his tea and stirring it before taking a sip.

A few minutes later, Ginny came back. "Ron, Mum said she'll be here in a few minutes; the meeting is just ending. Dad is staying for dinner, so he'll be home in an hour or so."

Ron just nodded, "I'm sure there's nothing wrong; I just had a bad dream."

He took another sip of his tea and the Ginny started talking to Harry and Hermione.

"You know, Mum said that sometime this summer she'd let us visit Fred and George at their shop. I've only been there once so far; it's even better than Zonko's. They wrote a book full of "fun things to do to people who really bug you." I think they got the inspiration from all the fun they had bothering that Umbridge woman. Mum didn't think the book was nice, even if she didn't like Professor Umbrige, so she doesn't know I have a copy stowed away under my bed." Ginny turned around to make sure Mrs. Weasley hadn't gotten back from the meeting.

Harry and Hermione laughed.

"I can't wait to go there," Harry said, "Won't we have to go to Diagon Alley to get our school things? We'll get to see the joke shop then. This year is going to be weird without Fred and George. Who's going to take their place?"

"Take whose place?" Mrs. Weasley walked in.

"Oh, we were just talking about school, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said.

"Oh, well if you were talking about who would be taking the place of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore already has a replacement whom I'm sure you will all enjoy."

Harry hadn't even thought of that and now he was wondering who be replacing Professor Umbridge; surely she wouldn't want to return.

Mrs. Weasley then looked over to Ron. "Oh yes," she said, "What's the matter dear? Ginny said you looked sick."

Ron looked like he was trying to hide, so Hermione spoke up.

"Ginny's right; Ron feel asleep a few hours ago and when he woke up, he looked horrible. His face is really pale."

"Well have your tea and then get some rest. If you aren't better in the morning, I'll take you over to Headquarters; I'm no good with cures, but I'm sure someone over there would know something. Besides, we're heading over there at the end of the week; three more meetings this weekend." She said and then went on, "Doesn't Dumbledore realize that some of us in the Order have families? All of this going on and I can't even spend time with my family because Dumbledore needs us to be at the meetings, talking about rounding up giants and what we're going to do about Azkaban and the dementors…"

**Author's Note:** End of Chapter 2. Thanks for reading, please review! D Next chapter should be up as soon as possible or by next weekend.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or its characters.

**Author's Note:** Thanks for reading and reviewing! D

**Chapter 3 – O.W.L.s**

Ron woke up feeling a lot better, in fact, he felt just like his usual self, but he was sure Mrs. Weasley would still have someone look him over before she was satisfied and truly believed he was okay. All that Ron cared about what that he was okay now and he hoped he didn't feel like he did the day before ever again. He got out of bed and dressed in a pair of pants and his Chudley Cannons sweatshirt that Fred and George bought him after they terrorized Umbridge and set off to their new joke shop. After yawning and stretching, he left his own room to go see if anyone else was awake.

Ron was on his way to the twins' old room where Harry was he stopped at the door before that one, the door to Ginny's room. He slowly turned the knob and pushed it open a tiny bit to see if Ginny and Hermione were still sleeping. The small room which belonged to Ginny now looked even smaller than usual because the half that was not taken up by Ginny's bed was cluttered with Hermione's trunk and her blankets that lay on the floor over top of her. He looked at her for a moment, watching her sleep and then turned to see if Ginny was asleep as well; she was. As quietly as he could, he tried to shut the door, but he stepped on the creaking board and woke up the ghoul that lived in the attic. Unfortunately, Hermione and Ginny were no longer asleep.

Ginny turned to the door, which was opened a bit, "What time is it?" She asked.

"Sorry, Gin, didn't mean to wake you," Ron muttered, "Stupid ghoul…"

"What were you doing anyway?" Hermione looked up.

"Oh, just seeing if anyone was awake yet. I'm sorry, you can go back to sleep now…"

"You can make it up to us by starting breakfast," Ginny said and then added, "You feeling any better?"

"Actually, yeah; I don't know why I was sick last night, but it seems to have gone away. Well, I guess I'll go start breakfast then. I'll call you down in about half an hour."

"Thanks."

So Ron continued down the hallway and came to Fred and George's old room. He really wasn't sure if he should try to open the door this time, but did anyway. To his surprise, Harry was awake. He was sitting on George's old bed, reading an old book that had a blackened cover; apparently Harry must've found it in the room. It looked like it had got in the way of one of Fred and George's experiments.

"Hey Harry," Ron said.

Harry turned around, "'Morning Ron, what's up?"  
"Going down to make breakfast. Err, you want to come and help? I'm not very good."

Harry laughed and shrugged his shoulders, "Sure."

They both headed down to the kitchen and Ron set the table while Harry made pancakes and put some bacon in the frying pan. Everything was going smoothly until… _smash_!

"Oh no! That was one of Mum's favorite saucers!"

"_Reparo!_" a voice called from the stairs and Ron recognized it as Hermione's.

Ron looked down the saucer was as good as new. "Thanks," was all he said and he finished setting the table with six sets of silverware. "Wait, are Mum and Dad here?"

"I think they stayed at Headquarters," said Ginny, taking a seat at the table, "So you can put those two place settings away."

Ron put the plates and silverware back and then looked on the counter and saw a note scrawled in Mrs. Weasley's tiny handwriting:

_Ron & Ginny,_

_Your father and I are still at Grimmuald Place. Make yourselves some breakfast and hopefully we'll be back before noon; So sorry we didn't get back sooner, but something's come up. Even though your father and I aren't present, I still expect your chores to be done by the time we get back._

_Clean the dishes._

_Clean your rooms (especially you, Ron)_

_De-gnome the gardens again (I think we need to find a new method of getting rid of them; they just keep coming back)_

_While you de-gnome the garden, it would be nice if you try and get rid of the fire grass. I think there's some spray in the shed, but be careful; I got a nasty burn the other day._

_We'll be back soon. If you need anything, you know where to find us._

_Love,_

_ Mum & Dad_

"Well, if we're going to have to get all of this done before noon, we'd better get a start after breakfast." Ron said and handed the note to Ginny. "Harry, you and I can de-gnome the gardens and take care of the fire grass; Ginny and Hermione, you two can do the dishes and clean the rooms I suppose."

"I'll clean my room and Fred and George's old room, you'd better clean your own," Ginny replied.

"I'll give you five knuts if you clean mine," Ron pleaded.

"Oh fine."

Satisfied, Ron flipped the pancakes and then put them out on the plates. Harry came along with the bacon and filled the plates. They both then sat down at the table and ate their breakfast. After only a few minutes, Hermione looked over as she heard a fluttering of wings outside the window by the sink.

She stood up and walked over, taking the parchment rolls off of the owls outstretched wing, "Hello, what've you got?"

Hermione unrolled the parchment and exclaimed, "Ooh! It's our O.W.L. results!"

She fetched the owl a quick drink before it flew off again into the sky and then Hermione went quickly back to the table to hand out Ron and Harry their results as well.

"Wow, Ron, you didn't do so badly," she said, reading their results as she gave them to the two boys, "Harry, you did well."

"Well, how many did you get, Hermione?" Ron asked curiously.

Harry looked up to hear her response.

"Err, well…" she said and then said with her voice as low and muffled as possible, "fmm– teen…"

"Sorry, how many?" Harry asked.

"Thirteen," she whispered in response.

"That's great, Hermione," said Ron, "I'm jealous; I've only got ten."

Harry said, "Same here. Unfortunately I'll be taking potions with Snape, but luckily there'll be no more Divination. I guess I don't have the inner-eye of a Seer."

"Me either," Ron said and then put on his best mock-Professor Trelawny voice, "It was forseen that Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley would not be taken Newt Divination…"

"I still don't see why you two bothered to keep taking that class when you could have taken Arithmancy instead," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

Ron looked at her like she had six heads, "Do you know how much extra sleep I got in that class? If she came over to me all I had to do was say 'Sorry Professor, I was refocusing my inner-eye.'"

Harry chortled, "Plus the homework was fun."

"Although it was hard to think of new ways that we would be killed after a while, of course, Hermione likes all of those hard classes where you actually have to think." Ron said jokingly.

"Perhaps that's because I have a brain, unlike you two."

Ron pretended to sound hurt, "You cut me deep there, you did."

Harry laughed, "Alright, enough. I suppose we'd better get a move on with getting things done; I see six of those stupid gnomes going around your lawn already."

About ten minutes later, Ron and Harry were about side, flinging the helpless gnomes out of the backyard. Harry flung his and it hit the old stump. Both boys were nearly rolling on the ground with laughter. Harry finally got a hold of himself and set out to grab another gnome. Ron, however, couldn't stop laughing.

"Okay, Ron," Harry said, "It _was_ funny, but it wasn't funny, but it wasn't _that_ funny."

"No," Ron said, "I- Can't- Stop- Laughing!" He said in between chuckles.

"What?" Harry said; confused.

"I'm- Serious!" He laughed, "I- Can't- Stop! - Get- Help!"

"I'll be right back," Harry said and hurried back inside to get Hermione and Ginny. Maybe one of them would know what was wrong with Ron.

"Well, I've never heard of anything like that," Hermione said, "A curse that causes uncontrollable fits of laughter? Sounds like something Fred and George would come up with if you ask me. Hmm…" She thought for a moment. Harry, Ginny, and herself were hurrying down the stairs to get outside to see Ron, "You don't think this has anything to do with Ron being sick last night, do you?"

"Tiredness, nightmares, fits of laughter?" Ginny said, "Well, I guess anything in the Wizarding world is possible, but he could have been tired from staying up all night, had nightmares because well people have nightmares sometimes, and was laughing because something was funny."

"It's him that's _funny_," Harry said.

When the three of them got outside, Ron was sitting on the ground with a determined look on his face. He was silent for about three seconds and then he started laughing again. A few moments later, he would pause and then he would start laughing hysterically.

He looked at the three of them helplessly, "I- Can't- Stop!"

"Did your brothers hex you or something?" Hermione asked.

"No," he laughed.

"Well, I'm going to get Mrs. Weasley, then," she said, "This could be serious!"

Harry went along with her. When they were back inside the house, he said, "Or, you know, he could have just _cracked_."

"I don't think so. If we don't find out what's wrong with him soon, he could end up having a long stay at St. Mungo's."

Hermione and Harry both found themselves at number 12 Grimmuald Place in a flash by way of floo-powder.

"Oh, hello Harry!" Lupin said, "And you too Hermione. What are you two doing here?"

"Well, you see… Ron," Harry and Hermione said at the same time.

"Sorry- You can explain," Harry said.

Hermione began, "Sir, its Ron. There's something wrong. Yesterday he looked awful and he was so tired and felt sick. Today we thought he was fine until he started laughing hysterically and he can't seem to stop."

"Well, am I correct in assuming that you're here to see Molly?" He asked and Hermione and Harry nodded, "Let me go find her. Meanwhile, you two stay here and try not to make any noise." He pointed out the doorway and down the hall to where the covered-up portrait of Mrs. Black hung on the wall, "She was shrieking and screaming all morning."

The two of them nodded and Lupin disappeared down the corridor. He returned some ten minutes later with Mrs. Weasley trailing close behind.

"Remus told me what's going on," she said, "Where's Ron?"

"He's at the Burrow," Harry said, but hardly got to finish before Mrs. Weasley and Lupin disappeared into the fire.

**Author's Note:** Well, I think I'll end this chapter right here; keep you in a bit of suspense. D Hehe. I hope you like the story so far. About the Ron not being able to stop laughing bit, its not supposed to be funny really… this isn't a humor fic, so yeah, just letting you know. Well, please review and let me know what you think of it so far. Next chapter should be up by next Sunday at the latest (I hope! -) )


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